War for the Planet of the Apes

War for the Planet of the Apes is an upcoming American science fiction film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback and Reeves. It is a sequel to the 2014 film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and a third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot series. The film stars Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Gabriel Chavarria, and Judy Greer. Principal photography began on October 14, 2015 in Vancouver. The film is scheduled to be released on July 14, 2017.

After seeing his cut of Dawn, 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment signed Matt Reeves to return as director for a third installment of the reboot series. On January 7, 2014, the studio announced a third installment with Reeves returning to direct and co-write along with Bomback. Peter Chernin, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver will produce. During an interview of Andy Serkis with MTV in mid-November 2014, Serkis said that they did not know the next film’s setting yet, “it could be five years after the event. It could be the night after the events of where we left ‘Dawn.’” In May 2015, the title was revealed as War of the Planet of the Apes.

In interviews for Dawn, Matt Reeves talked a bit about the inevitable war Caesar would have with the humans; “As this story continues, we know that war is not avoided by the end of Dawn. That is going to take us into the world of what he is grappling with. Where he is going to be thrust into circumstances that he never, ever wanted to deal with, and was hoping he could avoid. And now he is right in the middle of it. The things that happen in that story test him in huge ways, in the ways in which his relationship with Koba haunts him deeply. It’s going to be an epic story. I think you’ve probably read that I sort of described it where in the first film was very much about his rise from humble beginnings to being a revolutionary. The second movie was about having to rise to the challenge of being a great leader in the most difficult of times. This is going to be the story that is going to cement his status as a seminal figure in ape history, and sort of leads to an almost biblical status. He is going to become like a mythic ape figure, like Moses.” Toby Kebbell, who portrayed Koba in Dawn, has expressed interest in reprising his role or performing as other characters.